THE DARKSPORE

Many thousands of years past, the Lich King Amun Kahn overthrew the world and subjugated its' peoples, bent on destroying the Gods themselves and elavating himself to their station in the heavens. In wroth, the God of the Forge - Tek - descended from on high to give battle to the Lich King. But Amun Kahn threw even Tek down, and only then, in fear and grief, did the combined will of the Gods unite to destroy the upstart King, and his heart - crystalized by dark and malevalent power - broke into four shards.

Many long years the Lich King lay in his tomb, undisturbed. His history was lost to all but the most ancient scrolls. But it was here that Szorlok uncovered his secret - immortality and the power to enslave both the living and the dead, all contained within the four shattered pieces of the Lich King's heart. Szorlok and his acolytes sought out the Lich King's tomb, uncovering it's whereabout after many years of obsessive study and searching, the promise of eternal life driving them relentlessly. But once within the tomb, Szorlok betrayed his followers, unwilling to share his prize. Using the life-force of his minions, Szorlok forged the broken heart whole. It was Gojun Pye who saved the world then. As Szorlok prepared to place the evil heart within his own chest, crowning himself Lich King reborn, Gojun the Interloper struck him down, aided by three other mighty wizards of his order.

Gojun escaped with the Darkspore, the dead coming to life as he rode through the invading Vitalion armies. In the tower of his Order, Gojun and his comrades split the heart asunder once more. Fearing Szorlok's return, and knowing the power of the Darkspore, the wizards chose to hide each shard where no-one could ever recover them. Four riders were sent to far flung corners of the land, with instructions never to return - the secret of each shard would pass with the bearer.

For eighty years, the shards lay quietly, lost to the world. But evil leaves a scar on the world. Across the sea, Szorlok's power grew once more, like a malevalent cancer. He had tasted endless power, and could never rest again. He raised a new generation of necromancers to betray, and one by one, they sniffed out the resting places of the four shards.